Previous Reports
Welcome to this week’s Thirsty Thursday: An Inventory Report. As we delve into the latest oil and gas data, let’s first take a break with a refreshing cocktail – the Paper Plane. This balanced blend of Bourbon, Aperol, Amaro Nonino, and lemon juice is sure to add some excitement to your Thursday. So sit back, raise a glass, and join us for a quick inventory of the energy market and a taste of the latest mixology.
This week’s crude oil inventory data from the EIA shows an increase in stockpiles, with a rise of 4.14 million barrels. This is higher than the expected build of 0.376 million barrels, pointing towards a decrease in the market. With a higher inventory, prices could potentially face downward pressure.
Data from the API also shows a build, although they expected a draw of 1 million barrels on the dot. This deviation from expectations could indicate a shift in the demand and supply balance and have an impact on prices in the near term. It’s important to keep in mind that the API data is a preliminary reading and the more comprehensive data from the EIA will provide a clearer picture of the market.
For the second week in a row, there is no change in SPR stockpiles.
Six builds in a row now, what does that mean? I think the biggest reason is that demand is pretty low at the moment. Crude oil stocks during this time of year don’t typically increase this much although we are still within the 5-year range.
Both Brent and WTI had a slow week. Both decreased over the week but not by too much. Brent is at $85.46 while WTI is at 75.81. Domestic oil prices are feeling the draw downwards from low demand, however, they are also feeling downward pressure from a strengthening US dollar.
It may be hard to believe, although not too hard given the past few months, that the price of natural gas dropped again this week, this time by over 50 cents. Is it weak demand? Is the price lagging behind a weak dollar? Who knows, and who knows how low it will continue to drop?
Gasoline is headed in the opposite direction of natural gas, and oil. For the past month or so that relief from high summertime gasoline prices has been wearing off. I wouldn’t worry too much about that happening again, however, in the meantime, it may mean paying a bit extra to fill up. With refineries still recovering from cold snaps across the country and maintenance, we may be in for a few more weeks of slight gas price increases.
The national gasoline average is $3.498 per gallon, which is actually down $0.003 from the previous week. So while there is a general increase in price over the month, this week remained relatively flat.
Diesel dropped not even by a cent this past week and costs $4.675 per gallon. Distillates are all over the place and remain outside the 5-year range. Nothing new to report on propane/propylene, the weekly numbers are right in line with the 5-year range.
That’s all I have for you, happy lunar new year and we’ll see you again next week, cheers!
If you feel that any image, gif, or other related content infringes on your copyright, please email podcast@rarepetro.com to have that looked into or removed.
inventory report inventory report inventory report